Key Terms A -C From Psychology: Science Of Mind And Behaviour By Passer Et. Al.

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Abnormal behaviour

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Behaviour that is personally distressful, personally dysfunctional, and/or culturally deviant in ways that other people judge as inappropriate or maladaptive.

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Absolute refractory period

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The brief time interval following an action potential when a neuron is incapable of being stimulated to fire another impulse.

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Absolute threshold

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The lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50 percent of the time.

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Abstinence violation effect

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A response to lapse in which a person blames them self and concludes that they are incapable of resisting high-risk situations.

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Accommodation

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In cognitive development, the process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change.

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Acetylcholine (ACh)

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An excitatory neurotransmitter that operates at synapses with muscles and is also the transmitter in some neural networks involved inmemory.

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Achievement goal theory

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A theory of achievement motivation that stresses the goals (ego versus mastery) and motivational climates that influence achievement strivings.

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Achievement test

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A measure of an individual's degree of accomplishment in a particular subject or task based on a relatively standardized set of experiences.

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Action potential

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A nerve impulse resulting from the depolarization of an axon's cell membrane.

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Activation-synthesis theory

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A theory suggesting that dreams represent the brain's attempt to interpret random patterns of neural activation triggered by the brain stem during sleep.

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Adaptations

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Biological and behavioural changes that allow organisms to meet recurring environmental challenges to their survival, thereby increasing their reproductive ability.

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Adaptive significance

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The manner in which a particular behaviour enhances an organism's chances of survival and reproduction in its natural environment.

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Adolescence

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The period of development that involves a gradual transition between childhood and adulthood.

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Adolescent egocentrism

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Highly self-focused thinking, particularly in the early teenage years.

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Adoption study

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A research method in behavioural genetics in which adopted people are compared on some characteristic with both their biological and adoptive parents in an attempt to determine the strength of the characteristic's genetic component.

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Adrenal glands

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Endocrine glands that release stresshormones, including, catecholamines and corticosteroids.

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Aerobic exercise

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Sustained activity that elevates the heart rate and increases the body's need for oxygen.

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Agonist

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A drug that increases or mimics the activity of a neurotransmitter.

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Agoraphobia

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A cluster of phobias (irrational fears) related to being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult in the event of sudden incapacitation(e.g., on a bridge or a bus, in crowds or wide open spaces).

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Alcohol myopia

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An inability to pay attention to as much information as when sober leading to unstable perceptions and reactions which in turn increase the risk of misunderstandings, misinterpretations and poor judgement as to the consequences of actions.

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Algorithms

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Organized methods for solving a problem (and producing a result) which are expressed as a finite sequence of clearly defined steps to accomplish this (for example, a mathematical formula).

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All-or-none law

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States that an action potential is not proportional to the intensity of stimulation

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Alpha waves

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A brain-wave pattern of 8 to 12 cycles per second that is characteristic of humans in a relaxed, drowsy state.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD)

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A brain disorder, typically but not always occurring in old age, whose prominent features are memory loss and confused thinking.

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Amplitude

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The vertical size of the sound wave, which gives rise to the perception of loudness and is measured in terms of decibels.

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Amygdala

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A structure in the limbic system that helps organize emotional response patterns.

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Anorexia nervosa

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An eating disorder involving a severe and sometimes fatal restriction of food intake.

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Antagonist

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A drug that inhibits or decreases the action of a neurotransmitter.

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Anterograde amnesia

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Memory loss for events that occur after the initial onset of amnesia.

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Anticipatory nausea and vomiting (ANV)

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Classically conditioned nausea and vomiting that occur when cancer patients are exposed to stimuli associated with their treatment.

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Antigens

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Literally, antibody generators, or foreign substances that activate the cells of the immune system.

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Antisocial personality disorder

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A long-term stable disorder characterized by a lack of conscience, defects in empathy and a tendency to act out in an impulsive manner that disregards future consequences.

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Anxiety

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An unpleasant emotional state characterised by apprehension accompanied by physiological arousal and fearful behaviour.

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Anxiety disorders

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A group of behaviour disorders in which anxiety and associated maladaptive behaviours are the core of the disturbance.

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Aphasia

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The partial or total loss of ability to understand speech (receptive aphasia) or to produce it (productive aphasia).

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Applied behaviour analysis

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A process in which operant conditioning is combined with scientific data collection to solve individual and societal problems.

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Applied research

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Research that is designed to solve or examine specific, practical or 'real world' problems.

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Approach-approach conflict

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A conflict creating indecision and vacillation in an individual because they are simultaneously confronted with two equally attractive but incompatible alternatives.

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Approach-avoidance conflict

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A conflict creating indecision and vacillation in an individual because they are simultaneously attracted to and repelled by the same goal.

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Aptitude test

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A measure of a person's ability to profit from further training or experience in an occupation or skill

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Archetypes

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In Jung's theory, innate concepts and memories (e.g., God, the hero, the good mother)

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Archival measures

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The usage of records or past documents that contain information about some type of behaviour.

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Assimilation

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In cognitive development, the process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas.

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Association cortex

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The areas of the cerebral cortex that do not have sensory or motor functions but are involved in the integration of neural activity that underlies perception, language, and other higher-order mental processes.

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Associative network

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The view that long-term memory is organized as a massive network of associated ideas and concepts.

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Attachment

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The strong emotional bond that develops between two people

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Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

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A disorder, usually originating in childhood, that may take the form of attentional difficulties, hyperactivity/impulsivity, or a combination of the two that results in impaired functioning.

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Attitude

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A positive or negative evaluative reaction toward a stimulus (e.g., toward a person, action, object, or concept).

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Attribution

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A judgment about the causes of our own and other people's behaviour.

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Authoritarian parents

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Caregivers who exert control over their children within a cold, unresponsive, or rejecting relationship.

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Authoritative parents

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Caregivers who are controlling but warm

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Autistic disorder

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A severe developmental disorder characterized by extreme impairments relating to social interaction and communication, accompanied by highly repetitive and rigid patterns of behaviour.

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Autobiographical memories

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Recollections of personally experienced events that make up the "story of our life".

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Automatic (unconscious) processing

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Mental activities that occur with minimal or no conscious control or awareness.

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Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

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The branch of the peripheral nervous system that activates the body's involuntary muscles (e.g., heart) and internal organs.The ANS is divided into the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

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Availability heuristic

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A rule of thumb used to make likelihood judgments based on how easily examples of that category of events come to mind or are "available" in memory.

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Aversion therapy

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A form of therapy in which a conditioned stimulus that currently evokes a positive but maladaptive response is paired with a noxious and unpleasant unconditioned stimulus, in an attempt to condition a repulsion toward the conditioned stimulus.

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Aversive punishment (positive punishment, punishment by application)

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A type of punishment in which an operant response is weakened by the subsequent presentation of a noxious and unpleasant stimulus.

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Avoidance-avoidance conflict

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A conflict creating indecision and vacillation in an individual because they are confronted with a choice between two equally undesirable alternatives.

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Avoidance conditioning

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A form of learning in which an organism learns a response in order to avoid an undesirable consequence.

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Axon

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An extension from one side of the neuron cell body that conducts nerve impulses to other neurons, muscles, or glands.

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Basic research

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Research designed to obtain knowledge for its own sake.

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Basilar membrane

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A membrane that runs the length of the cochlea and contains the organ of Corti and its sound receptor hair

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Behavioural activation system (BAS)

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A neural system that is activated by cues indicating potential reward and positive need gratification. Activity in this neural system causes the person to begin or to increase movement toward positive goals in anticipation of pleasure.

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Behavioural activation treatment

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A treatment for depression that engages clients in life activities designed to increase positive reinforcement in their lives.

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Behavioural assessment

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The measurement of behaviour through direct observation and application of a coding system.

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Behavioural inhibition system (BIS)

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A neural system that is activated by cues indicating potential pain, non-reinforcement, and punishment. Activity in this neural system produces fear, inhibition of behaviour, as well as escape and avoidance behaviours.

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Behavioural neuroscience

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A subfield of psychology that examines brain processes and other physiological functions that underlie our behaviour, sensory experiences, emotions, and thoughts.

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Behavioural perspective

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A view that emphasizes how the environment and learning experiences shape and control behaviour.

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Behavioural signatures

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Individually consistent ways of responding in particular classes of situations.

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Behavioural genetics

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The scientific study of the role of genetic inheritance in behaviour.

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Behaviourism

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A school of psychology that emphasizes the effects of learning and environmental control on behaviour and maintains that the proper subject matter of psychology is observable behaviour.

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Behaviour modification

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Therapeutic procedures based on operant conditioning principles, such as positive reinforcement, operant extinction, and punishment, in order to increase the frequency of desired behaviours and/or decrease the frequency of problem behaviours.

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Behaviour-outcome expectancy

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The subjective likelihood that a particular consequence will follow a particular behaviour in a given situation.

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Belief bias

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The tendency to abandon logical rules and to form a conclusion based on one's existing beliefs.

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Beta waves

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A brain-wave pattern of 15 to 30 cycles per second that is characteristic of humans who are in an alert waking state.

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Bilingualism

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The use of two languages in daily life.

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Binocular depth cues

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Depth cues that require the use of both eyes.

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Binocular disparity

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The binocular depth cue produced by the projection of slightly different images of an object on the retinas of the two eyes.

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Biologically based mechanisms

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Evolved biological structures that receive input from the environment, process the information, and respond to it.

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Biological perspective

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A view that focuses on the role of biological factors in behaviour, including biochemical and brain processes, as well as genetic and evolutionary factors.

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Bipolar disorder

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A mood disorder in which intermittent mania appears against a background of depression.

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Blindsight

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A disorder in which people are blind in part of their visual field yet, in special tests, respond to stimuli in that field despite reporting that they cannot see those stimuli.

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Blood-brain barrier

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A specialized lining of cells in the brain's blood vessels that screens out foreign substances while letting nutrients pass through to neurons.

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Bottom-up processing

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Perceptual processes that begin with the analysis of individual elements of the stimulus and work up to the brain's integration of them into a unified perception.

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Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

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A serious personality disorder characterized by severe instability in behaviour, emotion, identity, and interpersonal relationships.

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Brain stem

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The portion of the brain formed by the swelling of the spinal cord as it enters the skull

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British empiricism

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A 17th-century school of philosophy championed by Locke, according to which all the contents of the mind are gained experientially through the senses.

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Broca's area

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A region of the left frontal lobe involved in speech production.

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Bulimia nervosa

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An eating disorder that involves a repeated cycle of binge eating followed by purging of the food.

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Bystander effect

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The principle that the presence of multiple bystanders inhibits each person's tendency to help, largely due to social comparison or diffusion of responsibility.

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Cannon-Bard theory

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A theory of emotion that proposed that the thalamus sends simultaneous messages to the cortex (producing our experience of emotion) and to the viscera and skeletal muscles, producing co-occurring actions and physiological responses.

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Case study

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An in-depth analysis of an individual, group, or event.

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Catatonic schizophrenia

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A schizophrenic reaction characterized by alternating stuporous states and agitated excitement.

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Catharsis

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The process of expressing strongly felt but usually repressed emotions.

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Central nervous system

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The portion of the nervous system that includes the brain and the spinal cord.

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Central route to persuasion

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Occurs when people think carefully about a message and are influenced because they find the arguments compelling.

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Cephalocaudal principle

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The tendency for physical development to proceed in a head-to-foot direction.

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Cerebellum

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A convoluted hindbrain structure involved in motor coordination and some aspects of learning and memory.

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Cerebral cortex

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The grey, convoluted outer covering of the brain that is the seat of higher-order sensory, motor, perceptual, and mental processes.

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Cerebrum

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The most advanced portion of the brain, containing the cerebral cortex and underlying structures.

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Chaining

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An operant conditioning procedure used to develop a sequence (chain) of responses by reinforcing each response with the opportunity to perform the next response.

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Cholecystokinin (CCK)

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A peptide (hormone) that helps produce satiety and cessation of eating.

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Chromosomes

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Tightly coiled strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein that contain the genes.

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Chunking

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Combining individual items into larger units of meaning.

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Circadian rhythms

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Biological cycles within the body that occur on an approximately 24-hour cycle.

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Classical conditioning

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A procedure in which a formerly neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) comes to elicit a conditioned response by virtue of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally elicits a similar response (the unconditioned response).

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Cochlea

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A small fluid filled coil-shaped structure of the inner ear that contains the receptors for sound.

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Cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS)

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A model that organizes five "person variables" that account for how a person might respond to a particular situation

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Cognitive appraisal

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The process of making judgments about situations, personal capabilities, likely consequences, and personal meaning of consequences.

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Cognitive behaviourism

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A behavioural approach that incorporates cognitive concepts, suggesting that the environment influences our behaviour by affecting our thoughts and giving us information.

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Cognitive map

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A mental representation of the spatial layout of an area.

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Cognitive neuroscience

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An area of psychology that intersects the subfields of cognitive psychology and physiological psychology and examines brain processes that underlie mental activity.

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Cognitive perspective

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A view that emphasizes humans as rational information processors and problem solvers, and that focuses on the mental processes that influence behaviour.

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Cognitive-process dream theories

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Approaches that focus on how (rather than why) we dream, and propose that dreaming and waking thought are produced by the same mental systems in the brain.

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Cognitive process theories

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Approaches to intelligence that analyze the mental processes that underlie intelligent thinking.

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Cognitive psychology

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An area of psychology that specializes in studying mental processes such as thinking, memory, planning, reasoning, attention, andperception.

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Cognitive relaxation

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A state of mental quiescence produced by meditation and other methods.

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Cognitive restructuring

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A cognitive stress-reduction approach that involves attempts to detect, dispute, and change maladaptive or irrational ideas that trigger negative emotions.

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Collective unconscious

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Jung's notion of an unconscious that consists of innate ancestral memories.

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Collectivism

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A cultural orientation that emphasizes the achievement of group rather than individual goals and in which personal identity is largely defined by ties to the larger social group (compare with individualism).

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Common factors

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Therapeutic elements that are possessed by virtually any type of therapy and that may contribute to the similar positive effects shown by many different treatment approaches.

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Communicator credibility

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The degree to which an audience views a communicator as believable, largely based on the communicator's expertise and trustworthiness.

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Companionate love

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An affectionate relationship characterized by commitment and caring about the partner's wellbeing

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Compensatory response

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A bodily response that opposes a drug's effects and occurs in an attempt to restore homeostasis.

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Competency

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The legal fitness of a defendant to stand trial based on their mental capability of understanding the nature of the charges against them, participate meaningfully in the trial, and consulting with their lawyer.

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Competency-focused intervention

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Prevention programs that are designed to enhance personal resources needed to cope with situations that might otherwise cause psychological disorders.

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Compulsion

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A repetitive act that the person feels compelled to carry out, often in response to an obsessive thought or image.

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Computerized axial tomography (CT, or CAT) scan

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A method of scanning the brain with narrow beams of X rays that are then analyzed and combined by a computer to provide pictures of brain structures from many different angles.

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Concept

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A mental category containing similar objects, people, and events.

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Concordance

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The likelihood that two people share a particular characteristic.

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Concrete operational stage

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In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development during which children can perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible (i.e.,"concrete") objects and situations.

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Conditioned response (CR)

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In classical conditioning, a response to a conditioned stimulus

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Conditioned stimulus (CS)

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A stimulus that comes to evoke a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

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Conditioned taste aversion

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A learned repulsion to a food that formerly was neutral or desired, by virtue of pairing the food with an aversive unconditioned stimulus.

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Conditions of worth

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Internalized standards for self-worth fostered by conditional positive regard from others.

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Conduct disorder

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A pattern of abnormal behaviour in which children violate important social norms and show disregard for the rights of others.

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Conduction deafness

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Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

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Cones

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Photoreceptors in the retina that function best in bright light and are differentially sensitive to red, green, or blue wavelengths.

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Confirmation bias

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The tendency to seek and favour information that reinforces our beliefs rather than to be open to disconfirming information.

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Confounding of variables

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In experiments, a situation in which the independent variable is intertwined or mixed up with another, uncontrolled variable

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Congruence

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Consistency between self- perception and experience

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Consciousness

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Our moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment

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Conservation

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The principle that basic properties of objects, such as their mass or quantity, stay the same (are "conserved") even though their outward appearance may change.

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Construct validity

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The extent to which a test measures the psychological construct (e.g., intelligence, anxiety) that it is purported to measure.

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Content validity

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The extent to which test items adequately sample the domain that the test is supposed to measure (e.g., intelligence, mathematical reasoning).

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Context-dependent memory

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The phenomenon that it is typically easier to remember something in the same environment in which it was originally learned or experienced.

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Continuous reinforcement

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A reinforcement schedule in which each response of a particular type is followed by reinforcement.

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Control group

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In an experiment, the group that either is not exposed to the treatment or receives a zero level of the independent variable.

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Controlled (conscious) processing

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Mental processing that requires volitional control and attentiveness.

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Conventional moral reasoning

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According to Kohlberg, the stage at which moral judgments are based on conformity to social expectations, laws, and duties.

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Convergence

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A binocular depth cue produced by the muscles that rotate the eyes as they focus on nearby objects.

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Conversion disorder

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A disorder in which serious neurological symptoms, such as paralysis, loss of sensation, or blindness suddenly occur without physical cause.

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Coping self-efficacy

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Beliefs relating to our ability to deal effectively with a stressful stimulus or situation, including pain.

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Corpus callosum

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A broad band of white, myelinated fibres that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and allows the two hemispheres to communicate with one another.

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Correlational research

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Research that measures two or more naturally occurring variables and examines whether they are statistically related.

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Correlation coefficient

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A statistic that indicates the direction and strength of a relation between two variables

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Counterbalancing

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In experiments, a procedure used in designs where when each participant engages in all of the conditions. The order of the conditions is altered for different participants so that, overall, no condition has an order advantage relative to the other conditions.

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Counter-conditioning

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The process of conditioning an incompatible response to a particular stimulus to eliminate a maladaptive response (e.g., anxiety), as occurs in systematic desensitization.

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Creativity

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The ability to produce something that is both new and valuable.

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Criterion-related validity

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The ability of psychological test scores to correlate with some present or future behaviour assumed to be influenced by the construct measured by the test.

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Critical periods

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Limited time periods during which plasticity can occur as a result of experience or in response to injury

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Cross-sectional design

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A research design that simultaneously compares people of different ages at a particular point in time.

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Crystallized intelligence (gc)

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Intellectual abilities that depend on a store of information and the acquisition of particular skills (compare with fluid intelligence).

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Cultural display rules

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Cultural norms that regulate when and how emotions are expressed.

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Culturally competent therapists

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Practitioners who have a set of therapeutic skills, including scientific mindedness, the ability to consider both cultural and individual factors, and the capacity to introduce culture-specific elements into therapy with people from minority cultures.

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Cultural psychology

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An area of psychology, sometimes called cross-cultural psychology, that explores how culture is transmitted to its members and examines psychological similarities and differences that occur between people from diverse cultures.

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Culture

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The enduring values, beliefs, behaviours, and traditions that are shared by a large group of people and passed from one generation to the next.

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Culture-bound disorders

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Behaviour disorders whose specific forms are restricted to one particular cultural context.

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Cytokines

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Chemical molecules released by immune cells that produce fever and inflammation, promote the healing of injured tissue, and activate and direct other immune cells.